Former NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas has decided to leave the United States, expressing frustration with the pervasive hostility she encounters. In an interview with Media Matters, she shared her discontent, stating, “Everyone is just so hateful. They won’t stop calling me ‘he/him.’”
Opting for a change of scenery, Thomas has chosen to relocate to either Montreal, Canada, or Paris, France, both recognized as havens for individuals seeking refuge from the United States due to their alternative lifestyles.
Expressing a preference for Montreal to avoid the challenge of learning a new language, Thomas remarked, “I’m not really sure how to say ‘she’ in French.” French spokesperson Joe Barron emphasized that the language itself is not overly concerned with individual pronoun usage but rather anticipates potential backlash in online comment sections.
Barron explained, “Typically when someone mentions Thomas, they use her preferred pronouns because, really, who cares? However, the replies tend to be predictably bigoted, like clockwork. There’s some skepticism in the French community that this trend won’t persist, and we certainly don’t want ‘LUI!’ to become the new caps lock rage word.”
Acknowledging the reality of the situation, the article encourages readers not to shy away from using Thomas’s preferred pronouns and anticipates engaging with cringeworthy rage replies for the sake of both respect and entertainment. The sentiment concludes with a light-hearted call to embrace the humorous aspects of these interactions.
